Education and visitor center project at Columbus property awarded $1.3 million grant

The Allamakee County Conservation Board (ACCB) was notified Thursday, August 2 it had been awarded a National Scenic Byway Grant in the amount of $1,361,400 for the development of the Driftless Area Education and Visitor Center being planned at the Columbus property south of Lansing.
The ACCB, with the assistance of the Northeast Iowa Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Office in Postville and the support of the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors, was able to secure the discretionary grant funding through the National Scenic Byways Program (NSBP) sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration. ACCB Director Jim Janett says the professional grant writing skills of the staff at the RC&D Office played a vital role in securing the funding.
The grant will help fund a three-level building with views of the Mississippi River from both inside and outside the building. The location of the proposed Driftless Area Education and Visitor Center is on the historic Columbus property owned by Allamakee County and located at 1978 Great River Road, south of Lansing.
Janett further states that the location of the property offers excellent opportunities for grant funding due to it being located on three National Byway designations, including The Mississippi River Great River Road, The Mississippi River Trail, and The Driftless Area Scenic Byway. It is intended that the proposed development of the property will provide a convenient and beneficial location to serve the public traveling into Allamakee County from Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as the residents of Allamakee County.

INITIAL CONCEPT
According to ACCB information, the concept of developing a Driftless Area Education and Visitor Center was first presented to the Allamakee County Conservation Board in the early 1990s. For many years the County-owned property was occupied by trailer rental units. The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors had continual input from the public regarding removing the trailer rental units from the property and developing the property for public use.
The decision was made by the Board of Supervisors over ten years ago to provide notice to tenants of the rental units that the property was going to be cleared of the rental units. Once the trailers were removed from the property, the clean-up and development efforts began with the assistance of Allamakee County Secondary Roads and the Conservation Board.
The Board of Supervisors turned over the management and development planning of the property to the Conservation Board in 2007. The Conservation Board considered a number of different usages of the property ranging from a shelter house to an education and visitor center. Based on input from the public, the Conservation Board made the decision to pursue the design and funding of an education and visitor center.

MORE RECENT ACTION
The Conservation Board applied for and received two separate grants from the Allamakee County Community Foundation totaling $12,000 for planning and design options on the property. The Allamakee County Conservation Board also formed a "friends" group and the 501(c)(3) Allamakee County Conservation Foundation was established. The Allamakee County Conservation Foundation has worked cooperatively with the Conservation Board regarding design concepts and fund raising options for the property.
The RC&D Office staff met with the Conservation Board on a regular basis and conveyed to the Conservation Board the wide variety of opportunities that were available to the Conservation Board for grants due to the property being located on designated byways.

PART OF A BIGGER
PICTURE
Application for the grant funds was encouraged by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) from states, cities, tribal governments and local planning organizations. Nearly 1,500 requests poured in from every state, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. totaling approximately $2.5 billion in grant requests through 12 different funding programs. Grant funding was made available through enactment of the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012, Part II.
“Investments in transportation projects like these create jobs right away in communities across the country, and lay a foundation for future economic growth,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Thanks to these grants, states, cities and local communities can move forward with the transportation projects Americans need to reach their destinations more safely, quickly and efficiently.”
Within the National Scenic Byways Program through which the grant funding for the education and visitors center was received, there were 261 grant applications in the amount of $111,843,630, with only 125 of those being awarded in the total amount of $37,054,987.
“The demand for these funds demonstrates a clear need for increased infrastructure investment,” said Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez. “The President asked us to rebuild America - we have work to be done and Americans ready to do the work.”

The National Scenic Byways Program (NSBP) recognizes roads having outstanding scenic, historic, cultural, natural, recreational and archaeological qualities. NSBP funding supports projects that manage and protect these roads and improve visitor facilities.
A state-by-state list of the Fiscal Year 2012 grants is available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/discretionary/2012grantdata.cfm.